captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions >> ifill: a brutal druglord, the ruthless leader of a mexican cartel, has been captured near the texas border. good evening. i'm gwen ifill. >> brown: and i'm jeffrey brown. on the newshour tonight, we get the details of the dramatic arrest by mexican marines, and examine the impact on the notorious zetas drug gang, which reaches deep into the american southwest. >> ifill: then, the "nuclear option" is off the table, for now. we talk with senators jeff merkley and roger wicker about the deal that averted a showdown over the filibuster rules. >> brown: ray suarez updates the

latest turmoil in egypt, where new clashes between islamists and police left seven dead and more than 200 injured. >> ifill: fred de sam lazaro has the story of a school that's transforming the lives of children, who come from parts of india largely cut off from the wider world. >> the 18,000 students have two things in common. they come from india's so-called tribal communities and they're extremely poor. >> brown: and we close with a conversation about race, culture and identity in the wake of the "not guilty" verdict for george zimmerman, charged in the killing of teenager trayvon martin. >> ifill: that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by:

moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> and the william and flora hewlett foundation, working to solve social and environmental problems at home and around the world. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> brown: the reputed leader of one of mexico's most vicious drug gangs was behind bars today. but it was unclear just how much that will do to ease drug violence that has raged for years.

>> a mexican newspaper headline this morning said it all: intelligence action decapitates the zetas. a macabre method. the man named z 4 was captured monday without a shot being fired, in the violence wrakd city of nuevo laredo. >> detained miguel angel trevino morales, 40 years old, he's accused of organized crime, hom size, crimes against health, torture, money laundering, and s used by armed forces. >> the zetas have earned a special reputation. beyond the want and killings of police, military, politics and civilians, zetas have left a

bloody trail of dead bodies, often left with profane messages to their rivals and to the mexican public. the newshour margaret warren err interviewed, one woman would not even utter the word zetas. >> if i tell you on an international network the name of the criminal organization, it's going to cost my may life. -- my life. >> the zetas were formed by former mexican special forces as the security arm of another cartel. from there they muffled their way to the top of the ruk ra tiff -- lucrative drug are business. nuevo leon, home to mexico's second largest city and its

business capital. many mexicans caution today against expecting immediate improvement. >> i don't think it will be over by catching one. because they arrest one and 20 crop up. on the other hand, the government also knows who they are and i imagine know where they are. >> it's believed that trevino morales older brother will assume the leadership. he will oversee the eastern drug corridors into the united states. the only rival is the sinaloa cartel, the rest of troafn tro t least 60,000 people have been killed. when the number have disappeared

and presumed dead is added that figure is more than 100,000. >> and for more >> brown: for more, we hear once again from alfredo corchado, mexico bureau chief for the "dallas morning news." how significant is this arrest, how big a configure is he? >> this is a huge deal. i mean, i think the few people, i can't think of anyone else who defines the decade like miguel angel trevino morales. as far as the headlines we've gotten accustomed to in the united states and in mexico this man was largely responsible, he and his cohorts, the zetas, a paramilitary group. some of the violence in the state of texas. >> so no shots were fired. what do we know so far about exactly how he was captured? >> this was i think the most surprising thing. he had told several people, associates and friends, that he would never be caught alive. that he would -- in fact it was

known that he carried a bullet just in case they ever surrounded him he would take that bullet and kill himself. what we know is there was a chase a helicopter did a maneuver over the vehicle. stopped and then suddenly other vehicles showed up. it was i think a month-long investigation headed by the mexican marines with some helps of u.s. intelligence. >> so tell us a little bit more about this particular cartel, what kind of activities and as you were starting to say, how deep a reach into the united states? >> well, he was -- i mean it was much more than just a mexican drug cartel. he was in charge of the piracy, prostitution, human smuggling, anything that had -- that made money through the illicit route. mr. trevino morales was in charge.

beginning in the early 1990s. where in nuevo laredo he worked for a drug cartel leader, washing cars and later cleaning chimneys. and his brother was a truck driver who would haul marijuana from nuevo laredo to west texas. one of the guys who was hauling the marijuana from mexico to the texas market. >> the question about what happens now and how much this impacts the cartel's ability to operate, what do we know about the cartel, its structure, its leadership, can somebody like his brother step right in and things go on, or does this have an impact? >> i think it's been significantly weakened but i think that it's expected that number 42 would try to fill in the void. but it is also known that other cartel, his son who the zetas were associated with, hector

de san leva and the cartel were the ones who recruited the zetas as enforcers and there's been a big rivalry. it's expected or feared that in the weeks to come or the months to come that the violent will spike, as they retake what they still claim is their own distribution route, i mean it is one of the most lucrative in the entire mexican border. people expect things to get bloody before they get calm again. >>brown: that's what i was wondering. how does this particular cartel, we mentioned the sinaloa constantly in competition i assume and how does what happened today fit into the rest of that overall picture? >> i think the hope if you talk to mexican authorities and u.s. authorities is that whoever takes over in the end because as long as you have u.s. demand for

drugs there will be a flow. but the hope is that whoever takes over is much more of a business minded leader. and not a vicious person like trevino morales has been over the years. >>brown: of the relatively new administration of pena, he promised a different strategy not a war like approach. does this tell us something about that? >> well you know he has been in office six, seven months. it's too early to tell. what people keep insisting is this is not necessarily an administration victory, more the mexican marines. but, i think the capturing of morales will go a long away to achieving that goal at least in the short term. they are expecting more violence

in the weeks to come, months to come but i think this arrest has captured in the long term people hope that somehow will calm things along the u.s. mexican border and things will resume at a slower pace. the bloodshed will come down and for a lot of druggers, he basically forced them into silence and censorship. a lot are breathing a sigh of relief but they also know there is a long way to go before they can claim and think victory. >>brown: let me ask you, mexico's president had put some limitations on u.s. operations. is there anything known about whether the u.s. played any role in providing information or otherwise in this arrest? >> well, we've been told that the u.s. did play a role in the intelligence, and i think we can also kind of see that the 12 years under the opposition party that they were able to -- that a

lot of the contacts in the regional level at the local level continue. in spite of trying to limit the role of the united states. i mean, from everyone that we talked to today, there was a role of the u.s. government. although it's understandable i think at least on the u.s -- on the united states side they're trying to down play that as much as possible. >>brown: all right, are alfredo corchado from the dallas morning >> ifill: online, you can find our guide to mexico's drug cartels. and still to come on the newshour, the showdown in the senate over rules; the violent clashes in egypt; a huge school for desperately poor children in india; and a conversation about race and identity. but first, with the other news of the day, here's kwame holman. >> holman: negative reaction to a florida jury's finding that george zimmerman broke no law when he shot and killed 17-year- old trayvon martin continued today. there were more rallies around the country. >> no peace.

no justice, no peace. >> for a second day and neither there were protests against the verdict. most were peaceful. in washington crowds rallied outside the white house against the acquit am of zimmerman. and in houston activists staged a mock funeral in the streets. but as night fell demonstrations turned violent. protests in oakland, police made nine arrests and used flash grenades to disperse crowds. and in los angeles 13 arrests after some demonstrators broke away from a rally. charlie beck. >> we want people to speak up in a peaceful and honorable way. we cannot allow that activity to infringe on the property rights and the physical safety of the

residents of this community. >>reporter: meanwhile one of the six jurors who returned the not guilty verdict told cnn's anderson cooper, the panel was split at first and getting to a decision was painful. >> i want people to know that we put everything into everything to get this verdict. we didn't -- we didn't just go in there and say, we're going to come in here and just do guilty, not guilty. we thought about it for hours. and cried over it afterwards. >>reporter: in the end, the juror known only as b-37 says she believes zimmerman did fear for his life but that he should have stayed in his car and that trayvon martin should have kept walking. >> i think both were responsible for the situation they had gotten themselves into. i think both of them could have walked away. it just didn't happen. >> for his part, george zimmerman remained out of sight today but new demonstrations

began in houston and elsewhere. this afternoon u.s. attorney >> holman: this afternoon, u.s. attorney general eric holder charged that "stand-your-ground" laws in florida and elsewhere encourage violent situations to escalate. he addressed the n.a.a.c.p. convention in orlando. >> there has always been a legal defense for using deadly force, if-- and the "if" is important-- if no safe retreat was available. but we must examine laws that take this further by eliminating the common sense and age-old requirement that people who feel threatened have a duty to retreat, outside their home, if they can do so safely. >> holman: holder gave no indication when the justice department will decide whether to charge george zimmerman with federal civil rights violations. the man who leaked information on u.s. surveillance programs, edward snowden, formally asked today for temporary asylum in russia. he's been in the moscow airport's transit zone for the last three weeks. if he's granted asylum, snowden could work and travel in russia

for at least a year. a north korean-flagged ship is being held by panama after authorities there apparently found ballistic missile equipment. the ship had sailed from cuba on its way to the pacific via the panama canal. president ricardo martinelli says his government originally was tipped off that the vessel carried drugs, hidden beneath bags of sugar. instead, they found weapons. . >> it's extremely sophisticated. it appears that these are aerial or defense missiles. we don't know what's in the other containers but we will have to take out all the sugar to determine what's in this ship. >> holman: martinelli said the ship's north korean crew-- 35 in all-- resisted efforts to divert the vessel into port. they were taken into custody. on wall street today, investors turned cautious a day before the chairman of the federal reserve gives his latest report on the economy. the dow jones industrial average lost 32 points to close below 15,452. the nasdaq fell nearly 9 points

to close at 3598. those are some of the day's major stories. now, back to gwen. >> ifill: with a mid-morning deadline looming, senate leaders reached an agreement today to avert a showdown over changing the chamber's rules. >>ifill: senate major liter harry reed emerged from tense negotiation to declare the senate has achieved a new normal. >> i think it is something that is good for the senate. it is a compromise. and i think we get what we want. and they get what they want. not a bad deal. >> a compromise which cleared the way for senate confirmation of five white house nominees and the replacement of two others ended a partisan standoff that could have ground the senate to a halt. >> good afternoon everybody. ifill: senators moved to confirm richard cordray, his nomination has been in limbo for two years.

an early procedural vote cleared the way. >> on this vote the yeas are 71, the nays are 29. >> next up. thomas perez, gina mccarthy, fred hockberg as head of the export import bank and mark gaston pierce, slated to step in as head of the national labor relations board. two other nominees, richard griffin and sharon block. partisan rancor heated up in recent days as reed vowed to change senate rules and vowed to quash filibusters. but distrust remained. >> i do hope that members on the other side will note this good-fate effort. i don't think it's healthy for this body to constantly have

potential rules changes hanging over the issues of our nation. >> while disagreement addresses the immediate need for the president of the united states to have his cabinet and his senior staff confirmed, this agreement today only addresses one symptom of a seriously dysfunctional senate. >>ifill: a showdown was averted only after senators gathered last night for a rare bipartisan closed door meeting in the old senate chamber. today, leaders from both parties said the crisis was avoided only after the other side gave in. >> the understanding is that none of our rights will be waived. i mean for example, 60-vote thresholds on controversial nominees will still have to be achieved. so in a sense, that's the regular way that we handle business here in the senate. >> there's a feeling around

here. now feelings don't last forever. and i understand that. but we're not -- they're not sacrificing their rights to filibuster and we damn sure are not change are our right to change the rule if necessary. >>ifill: 60 votes will still be needed to overcome future filibusters and today's agreement does not apply to judicial nominees. but for now the senate plans to continue voting on president obama's being nominations, a logjam years in the making. we are joined by general plan merkley and mississippi roger wicker. gentlemen, why did it take for a bipartisan agreement for this to come about? >> it comes to listening to one

another. i made the point last thursday to leerd reed, oftentimes it's the leerdz speaking to an empty chamber and rank and file members like jeff and i don't talk enough. i think it's a matter of listening learning what the grievances were. and talk about common ground. >> let's talk about the grievances, senator merkley. what did each side get in this case? >> this case seven or eight up or down votes, and we hope this will be a model for returning to the norms and transitions of the senate, certainly, if neither side gave ground on the future, neither of the republicans saying they won't filibuster, and democrats, that we won't come back to this conversation again. >>ifill: all of the americans watching the way the senate functions might ask a question. senator reed said it earlier today, i'll put it to you

senator merkley and i want to hear from you senator wicker, is this a new normal or a vacation on the old? >> we certainly hope that it will be the new normal because essentially, there is a way to summarize the senate. it's supposed to be a deliberative body, sometimes called a cooling saucer as president washington, we've also adopted these nutritious and i say this in the best con-- these new traditions. around from the period of time from president eisenhower to president ford there wasn't a single filibuster of executive determination. returning to that power of advice and consent was not obstruct and destroy is very important. >>ifill: is that where we are today, senator wicker, obstruct and destroy instead of advise

and consent? >> i think that's in the eye of the beholder. ofteoftentimes a leader will cal that a filibuster. let me make this point about the appointment. president obama has appointed some 1500 executive and agency nominations. he's gotten all of them through except for four. if he were a major league batter he'd be batting 999. so it's one thing to say we have had a lot of filibusters. i think the result has been protection of the right of the minority to get some information. to have some face-time with nominees. but in the long run, the vast overwhelming majority of them get confirmed, and we've still protected the executive's prerogative and the right of the minority, and we still have a senate that reaches consensus, and conciliation. >>ifill: senator wicker you're not including judicial nominations in your figures, are you? >> there's never -- as a matter

of fact since the gang of 14, back in 2005, there have been only two judicial nominations stopped through the filibuster. so i think our record is pretty good. oftentimes, we use that, to get extra information, to give us a little extra time for more consideration. but in eight years' time, only two judicial nominations stopped by this filibuster, but it actually was a practice begun by the democrats. still a pretty good record of confirmation overall. >>ifill: senator merkley, at adistance it looks like the well is pretty much poisoned by the democrats and republicans in the house. and in the senate, what does this agreement for ten portend ? >> i think this is a time when democrats and republicans sit down, listened to each other and formed a compromise. it's an effort to make the senate more functional and

certainly, as you indicated in your previous question, we have a big challenge with judicial nomination, my colleague's numbers don't really capture the fact that we only bring a nomination to the floor once the republican leader has assured us there won't be a filibuster in order to save time, vast amount of delay and obstruction that is taking place, in addition to the numbers that he represented. and here we are, we can't even start a conference committee on a budget even though the house has passed a budget and the senate has passed a budget because it is being filibustered. certainly that's strange because why shouldn't you be able to start a conversation with the house to try to reach common budget numbers. we can't get a bill to the floor on sequestration because it's been filibustered. we can't get a bill to the floor because it's, we worked out adeal we hope it will be a model for better path forward but

we've got a lot more conversations to work on. and that's critical. because right now, the senate's dysfunction not only is a disservice to the country, it's breeding vast skin civil about -- cynicism about the ability of the government to take on challenges of the country. >>ifill: senator i do want you to respond to that especially about the part about whether you agree that the senate is actually dysfunctional. >> i think the senate is dysfunctional for a number of reasons. there are a lot of frustrations on the part of democrats and republicans. but let me speak to the budget issue. we didn't have a budget for three years. now instead of moving to go to conference, the democratic majority is asking for unanimous consent to go to congress. because they know if they moved to go to congress our side would have an opportunity to send some motions to instruct to the floor. so there's two sides to this

issue: and frankly if the chairman of budget and the leader of the democrats want to go to conference, they can simply offer a motion to go to conference. we would have an opportunity to offer our amendments and go forward. instead they've made it more difficult by making it where 100 of us have to agree. >>ifill: i guess my final question for you both is whether there always has to be a nuclear option as this is called in order for movement to happen on any issue. senator merkley and then senator wicker. >> i would say at this point there's so much in partisan died and we don't have the three networks pulling us together. from the 1970s and 80s. we don't have the relationships that come from being in the fox hole together as the senators did when i first came here in 1976 as an intern. we don't have that framework. and therefore, we either need to find ways to reconstruct a new

social contract, or we need to change the rules. and that option of changing the rules is the option we don't want to go to. it's why senator reed started in january, 2011, with a gentleman's agreement, it's why he reached a bipartisan agreement with minor changes in january 2013. but if we cannot find that social contract, then we have the responsibility to the american citizens to make the senate work and that means changing the rules and that probably means using a nuclear option. >>ifill: senator wicker it doesn't sound like anything much has changed. >> no, actually, i feel a lot better than -- i think we are in much better shape than we were at this time yesterday. we had a session in the old senate chamber and we actually listened to each other, almost 100 senators were in there. we listened for three hours and 15 minutes and i think this idea of a social contract where rank and file members like jeff and

like roger wicker are able to talk to each other and actually air grievances apart from the leaderships talking past each other. i feel a lot better and i think we're on a better track because of what we've gone through. >>ifill: senator roger wicker of mississippi, senator jeff merkley from oregon about.about. >> richard cord ray was confirmed to head the consumer protection bureau. >> brown: now to the volatile situation in egypt. after a week of relative peace in the country, violent clashes returned last night. ray suarez reports. >>suarez: supporters of out offed president mohamed morsi poured into cairo streets last night calling for his return to power. they marched into will of the

capital's busiest brings ans that's where tensions boiled over. proof from pbs's front line, demonstrators burned tires and blocked the roadway. morsi's muslim brother hood, seven people were killed more than 260 were hurt and more than 400 arrested. this morning, relative calm returned, with morsi supporters promised it's not over. what happened yesterday is part of the military's plan to play around with people's nerves. but we would like to send a message to the military that even if they kill hundreds of thousands of people we will not leave until legitimacy is returned. >> there's no going back. fani spoke recently with

frontline. >> what are your options? as i said previously, the ballot box is a license to govern. it's not a mandate to rule. so you can govern. that means governing your constituency and the other constituencies, does not give you a right to impose your vision of egypt on us all. >> the military leader who out offed morsi was named deputy prime minister today. the muslim brotherhood refused to take any part. aslam al arian spoke with charles sennott working with the team. >> a green light came from washington to those militants, to the leaders of the army. to support this revolution,

antirevolution, the military, and i hope that americans can understand. they lost sides and lost power in this region when they are the will and the process of the people in a democratic process. >>suarez: deputy secretary of state william burns was in cairo yesterday insisting that the u.s. is not taking sides. >> we know that the egyptians must forge their own path to democracy. we will not try to impose our role on egypt. what the united states will do is stand by no particular personalities or parties. >> i talked to charles sennott a short time ago. charles sennott welcome. since the confrontation that we saw in your footage egypt has sworn in a new government, the interim president has installed new cabinet ministers. is it a calmer day and night in

cairo? >> it was calmer today. i think it felt like a ramadan today, where people are fasting for the holy month of ramadan. i think last night's clashes were so violent, so intense that today seemed to be a day where everyone was regrouping on some level reflecting on some level where this is headed. >>suarez: which are factions on the street? egyptians taking to the street to say what is on their mind. >> we were at the mosque which has become their headquarters and there we talked to the egyptian leadership and said they organized the marches last night on the 6 october bridge which is the central artery that runs through cairo and they sar very openly that they are organizing these marches as a way to protest what they see is a military coup. they said the elected president morsi was detained by the

military, is kept in an undisclosed location and that he is the legitimate president and that they are going to keep up the street demonstrations until his presidency is restored and he is released. the other side is harder to define and it's broader and represented by millions of people who took to the streets often june 30th demanding that morsi call earlier elections or resign. that group who used to be with the muslin brotherhood who voted for morsi who is a large group of more liberals, more secular side of society, i think it's harder to define them. they represent a lot of people. but they came out in force and they spoke and they believe that it is a good thing that morsi has been out offed -- ousted. i don't think it is a good thing that the military intervene to accomplish this but there is a sense of two very dict sides

brewing. muslin brotherhood one side, and the other side is a big collection of a broad groupings of secular, some religion and others, who -- religious and others who believe we have to move forward with this democracy, we have to move forward with new elections and we need to elect a new president. >>suarez: you mentioned it was ramadan and in much of the world people staying up late having dinner together late at night. does that create a situation where there are more likely to be people out on the street late at night and make it easier to get something going politically? >> you know i think ramadan cuts both ways. ranl dan is a time when people are fasting from sunrise to sunset. it's very hot here. it is a time when people are very quiet during the day. as the sun sets they break the fast and they gather largely as families. one of the things we are hearing a lot about our families that are deeply divided on what was

the right thing to do here. should morsi have been put down as the president, ousted by the military or not? did the military do the right thing? upholding you know sort of the greater democracy here, the sort of public sentiment on the street. but at night, yes, definitely, you see this sense, that you know, around 9:00 at night there is definitely a larger presence on the street, people stay up lathe and it cuts the other way. you have a lot of young people who are taking to the streets after breaking the fast and we saw that last night. the streets were packed. it was very violent confrontations as you have seen and very much a sense of the muslim brother hood that they are going to confront this. where wit will it end? will it continue to escalate or will it tone down? right now it's very difficult to call. >>suarez: in the past weeks in the united states president obama has been criticized by

elected officials for taking somewhat of a hands-off attitude for egypt while in egypt rival faction he are complaining that the united states is too involved. how is that happening? >> you know this is a deeply divided country. muslim brotherhood on the one side, the opposition to morsi on the other. the wung thing you find unity on here is that the united states is at fault. what i mean by that is the muslin brotherhood will say the united states gave a green light to the mill try coup as they would define it. the other side they would say that the united states gave too much deference to morsi that they were supportive to his government even as so many here feel it was failing, failing on economy, failing on security. it was a grab for power as so many people here feel by morsi so you get this deep division yet you get unity on criticism of the united states. very difficult position for ambassador ann patterson here, for the deputy secretary of

state, william burns who is now in the country and visiting. you know i think most people say the united states should stay out of it going forward and it's one of those very, very difficult foreign policy questions, for what is the most effective and productive way for united states to play a role here. >>suarez: charles sennott of global post. your frontline documentary will be on in the fall. thanks for joining us. >> thank you, good to be with you. >> ifill: next, bringing opportunity to a vast, hidden population of aboriginal children in india. special correspondent fred de sam lazaro visited one school that is trying to break the cycle of poverty on a massive scale. his report was produced in partnership with the pulitzer center on crisis reporting, and is part of our series, agents for change.

>> reporter: the 18,000 students at the kalinga institute of social sciences-- only half of them were gathered in this assembly-- have two things in common. they come from india's so-called "tribal communities," and they're extremely poor. the school offers grades one through 12, and is an ambitious attempt to transform their lives. it is the brainchild of achutya samanta, a 47-year-old entrepreneur. >> the children who come here to study, they are stricken with poverty and illiteracy, and their parents themselves have not had much of an education. my goal is to eradicate poverty through education and bring them into the mainstream. >> reporter: though not a tribal member himself, samanta grew up in poverty. but he was able to use scholarships to get a college education. in the '90s, samanta founded a private university, offering coursework in high-demand fields like engineering, business, and

medicine, just as the indian economy took off here in eastern bhubaneswar and in cities across india. revenues from the kalinga institute of industrial technology largely fund the primary school. samanta, who lives simply and takes no salary, says he wants to give tribal children the same opportunities he got. >> the major difference between the urban poverty we see and the poverty among aboriginal people is that the aboriginal people who live in the forests are completely cut off, in terms of awareness of the world outside india. >> reporter: india has some 400 distinct aboriginal tribes who number about 80 million. they've lived far outside the mainstream for millennia, in forests across central and eastern india. british colonization and, in recent times, corrupt or absent governance and mining activity have displaced tribal people and

helped spawn a radical maoist insurgency, says macalester college professor james laine. >> in terms of social status, they more or less translate as similar to untouchable castes. you're completely left out, and someone comes along and says we'd like to create an egalitarian society. that might be quite attractive to the young person of tribal background. >> reporter: the maoist movement is about four decades old, and has turned increasingly violent in recent years. in may, maoist guerillas ambushed a convoy and killed several regional political leaders and their bodyguards, the most recent of some 6,000 deaths over the years, many of innocent tribal members. >> there's a big chunk of india which is largely forested, where fundamentally the government does not reach. >> reporter: and it's in one corner of the region, eastern

orissa state, that the kalinga school has reached out. >> education offers the best alternative to the path of the maoists. >> reporter: here education begins with meeting the most basic needs on an industrial scale and free of charge to the students. >> now they're going for lunch. >> reporter: how many students? >> it is approximately now 8,000 plus are going for lunch. >> reporter: 8,000! these students followed 10,000 thousand others who'd just finished. it takes four shifts of 45 minutes to get everyone their lunch-- most days a staple rice and lentil curry. they'll be back a few hours later for supper. with the exception of the actual cooking, students help out with almost everything: serving food, cleaning; even producing their own clothing. >> for us, the challenge is finance.

if i would have more finance, i would have been able to give them more comfortable. >> reporter: with more money, he said he'd provide better food and more comfortable living conditions. dormitories are so crowded some younger children must share bunks. the academic challenge is even greater. the school has to teach students from 60 tribes, with distinct languages and customs. >> our major concern was how to bring all these under one roof and mold them into a curriculum without sacrificing their own heritage and traits. so over the years, we have tried to strike a balance. >> reporter: students spend time in craft work and programs to help preserve and retain indigenous traditions and languages. classes are taught in the official regional language, oriya, until high school, when students switch to english. we caught some of them practicing one evening.

>> you see, students are studying. >> reporter: they marveled at what for them certainly were uncrowded classrooms and other images of everyday life in america. both pictures and this conference room were donated by the u.s. embassy, one of several foreign missions that have offered some support to the school. >> you can see the flag of u.s.a. here. you see they really love their country. >> reporter: and on a scale not seen in india, this school places huge emphasis on sports, to build discipline and camaraderie. students have all sorts of options: the indian sport of kabaddi, basketball, and even american baseball. but the hands-down popular sport is rugby. the game has taken many students far from their rural homes. it began with a chance visit from members of a bombay rugby team a few years ago.

it caught on quickly. >> this is 2011, london. this is 2007, london. >> reporter: kalinga teams have participated in tournaments in australia and england, sponsored by professional rugby organizations. almost as heady as winning the tournament over a south african side was a chance to travel abroad, to tour london, says senior haji majhi. >> we trained in calcutta for the tournament. prior to leaving, we were given english lessons, shown how to use the toilets. they taught us table manners. >> reporter: his teammate, rajkishore murmu, says their success on the pitch reinforced a message the school tries to convey. >> we've learned in this school to never think of ourselves as inferior to anybody else, and i think others respect us, too.

>> rugby has taught me a lot of things, most importantly discipline, which is critical when you're learning the intricacies of the game. for example, i know now if i suddenly encounter a tiger, i'll know how to dodge it. >> reporter: for parents having children in school means fewer hands to help out with the daily struggle for survival. but hadi's father, mongola dhangda majhi, says he's happy to have secured his son's future. >> he's already got more than i got in my entire lifetime. there's no going back. there is nothing in the our village. maybe in the future my son will be able to help bring better facilities to our area-- a hospital or medical clinic or some kind of school. >> reporter: hadi and majhi, like other kalinga graduates, can take advantage of seats reserved for them at colleges founded by samanta, who says most of these students opt to remain close to home, where

they're most urgently needed. >> i don't want these children, once educated, to remain primarily in urban areas. rather, we would like them to be agents of change in their own communities. >> reporter: to do that, he plans to open 20 branches of the kalinga institute of social sciences in rural communities across the region. >>ifill: there is a slide show of images from the colinga show. you can find a link to the pulitzer center's web site on our home page. fred's reporting is a partnership with the under-told stories project at saint mary's university in minnesota. >> brown: finally tonight, what we talk about and don't talk about when it comes to race and identity. it's a subject again at the fore after the death of trayvon martin and the trial of george zimmerman, and it's the subject of the race card project, an

effort by npr journalist and author michele norris to engage people in a conversation about, as her web site says, their "experiences, questions, hopes, dreams, laments or observations about race and identity." michele norris joins us now. . >> good to you with you. brown: first explain to us what the race card means. what you're after. >> they are very short stories, six-word stories. >> that is short. e id was to open up on a difficult subject bit not asking very much of them. i asked people to share as you said their thoughts observations laments whatever in one sentence that only has six words. the idea is to create a platform a place where people could perhaps say difficult things but more importantly where they could go to the web site or use the exercise to listen to other people to find out what other people are saying or thinking.

>>brown: and something about that compactness works, you can't go on and on? >> in the beginning people would send in six words they were anonymous. then they would end up sending six words with their location. then the six words end upping a spigot. they are accompanied by essays and a comment. >>brown: generally speaking what have you seen happening since the death of trayvon martin in through to today? >> well, it's been a running thread through race card projects and there are flash points. even before it became a national story the submissions started to trickle in. when it became a national story, big spike in submissions. when george zimmerman was arrested big spike in smikses -- submissions and throughout the trial big spike in submissions. you see all sorts of things. you see mothers who watched this trial and felt for their own children. they somehow felt that trayvon martin's experience touched

their home and they feared for their children. you saw people who would watch the trial and maybe they didn't condone what george zimmerman did but they see his impulses. when they see people of color in their neighborhood if they feel they don't belong that they talk openly and honestly about the fear that they feel. and a lot of people talk about the things that they wrestle with. that they're uncomfortable with, the idea that people fear them, the idea that they make assumptions about other people based on their skin color or what they happen to be wearing. >>brown: it was interesting because at the trial itself there was a lot of emphasis on not seeing this through the lens of race. but clearly many people do in america. and that's what you're seeing on your site. >> that was interesting because the lawyers particularly the prosecutor tried osay that this is not about race. actually said that in the courtroom and then we have heard from one of the jurors who said this is not about race. and as i look at the thousands of submissions that have poured

in clearly people who are watching this in their own homes and communities were seeing racial elements in this. and so there is this thing that sometimes people think that just because you don't talk overtly about race that it's not there. but nonetheless it does appear to be you know in the atmosphere. >>brown: so give us a few examples of the kind of thing you've been hearing. >> urban living has made me racist. >>brown: urban living has made me racist. >> this is from someone who moved to the city and she lives in a multiethnic community and she said some of the attitudes she's developed over times living in that community has hardened based on what she sees and that makes her uncomfortable. she is buying into the trope of the scary black person and she talked really honestly about that not just in those six words but in an essay that came along with that. stop seeing my son as a

predator. i pray for my son every day came from a woman in canton, ohio, she has three children two daughters an a son. she worries most about her son. when he comes home to visit, he's an adult now, he comes home to psychiatrist in their multiethnic neighborhood, he goes out to run, she says go run someplace el else. she's afraid if he runs in the neighborhood wearing athletic neighborhood, people will see trayvon martin. >>brown: i was interested about the fear, people being almost upset by their fear, it all comes out in various ways. >> upset by the fear that -- i was reading from a message from ian seer, a part of the benneton generation, the generation that is supposed to be post-racial,

without the burdens that other generations have and he talked about he hates the implicit fear that he has, people wrestling with it. but on the other hand, black folks, black men in particular, writing about what it feels to step onto an elevator and have to say hello really loudly to everyone so they understand they're not a threat. >>brown: you also have some people thinking we put too much emphasis on race. >> a lot about that. one person saying stop exploiting to promote own agenda. and the idea there is, this is from someone who said we talk too much about race, the trayvon martin case the george zimmerman case was just another example for the liberal media that was the word he used to drive up rating. >>brown: let me ask you briefly in our last 30 seconds or so here coming back to the project itself have you seen a -- what is your sense of the comfort level of people talking about these things? >> people are comfortable

talking in six words. but this is what i take heart from, a large part of the submissions come in the form of a question. people are asking a question, that speaks something about the need for dialogue. >>brown: the project is the race card. michele norris, thanks so much. >> ifill; again, the major developments of the day. the reputed leader of mexico's zetas drug gang was behind bars, a day after his capture just south of the texas border. there were new protests against the acquittal of george zimmerman in the killing of trayvon martin. and attorney general eric holder called for reconsidering "stand your ground" laws. and senate leaders agreed on allowing votes for long-delayed presidential nominees, and averting a showdown over the chamber's rules. >> brown: online, the story of a rather daunting kind of summer run: 48 hours, 135 miles, and nearly 100 contestants daring enough to compete in the heat of

death valley. kwame holman tells us more. >> holman: find out more about the ultra-marathon that unfolds in some of the world's most extreme conditions: how the athletes train, how they endure, and the role of support crews in getting them to the finish line. that's on the rundown. plus, how can you prove your capabilities to an employer if some of your technical skills are out of date? nick corcodilos offers ways to steer the conversation to your advantage on "making sense." all that and more is on our web site, newshour.pbs.org. gwen? >> ifill: and that's the newshour for tonight. on wednesday, we'll talk with daniel ellsberg, the man who released the top-secret pentagon papers during the vietnam war, and former attorney general michael mukasey about edward snowden, the american contractor who leaked u.s. secrets. i'm gwen ifill. >> brown: and i'm jeffrey brown. we'll see you online, and again here tomorrow evening. thanks for joining us. good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by:

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>> rose: welcome to the program. we begin tonight with the acquittal of george zimmerman in the death of florida teenager trayvon martin. joining me to talk about this, charles ogletree of harvard law school. noah feldman of feldman of harvard law school and dan abrams, a lawyer at abc news. >> people feel something went wrong with the system, and that may be lack of sophistication with criminal trials and the burden going forward and the fact that the defense did a good job in a sense of putting trayvon martin on trial, which he should not be on trial, he is the victim in this case. >> but in reality that is what happened. and i don't criticize the defense lawyers for doing what they did, they d